E3 2011: Fruit Ninja karate chops into Kinect this summer

Be warned: This is no way an invitation to play Kinect with kitchen knives. (We all know how that went--hilarious.) Halfbrick announced at this year's E3 event that its hit fruit-slicing iPhone game, Fruit Ninja, is headed to Xbox 360 through the Kinect motion controller this summer.

The game is part of Microsoft's annual Xbox Live Summer of Arcade promotion. Not to mention it's the only Kinect game to be part of the five-week long promotion where each week, a new downloadable game is made available on the cheap. As for Fruit Ninja Kinect, Halfbrick spokesman Phil Larsen told CNN that the game will likely go for $10, or 800 Microsoft Points.

And while Larsen says Fruit Ninja is aimed directly at the casual crowd that has gravitated to Kinect, hardcore gamers might be interested as well. "It's almost a little bit of an escape," Larsen told CNN. "They spend five hours playing 'Call of Duty,' then they say 'Hey, I can play this for a little while and relax.''

Halfbrick has also announced a version of its mobile mega hit for Facebook, titled Fruit Ninja Frenzy. It's in the same vein of minute to win it-style games like Bejeweled Blitz, and Larsen said it'll land in a few weeks. You can imagine that the general hook of Fruit Ninja will remain the same. Rather than using your fingers to slice virtual mangoes, bananas and more, you'll flail your arms wildly in attempts at karate chops. You know, like a ninja.

Could you see yourself chopping at digital fruit on the big screen rather than slicing it with your fingertips? What other casual games do you think would do well on Kinect. Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.